Lara Croft

Lara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Square Enix (previously Eidos Interactive) video game franchise Tomb Raider. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic English archaeologist-adventurer who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world. Created by a team at UK developer Core Design that included Toby Gard, the character first appeared in the 1996 video game Tomb Raider. She has also appeared in video game sequels, printed adaptations, a series of animated short films, feature films (portrayed by Angelina Jolie), and merchandise related to the series. Official promotion of the character includes a brand of apparel and accessories, action figures, and model portrayals. Croft has also been licensed for third-party promotion, including television and print advertisements, music-related appearances, and as a spokesmodel.

Core Design handled initial development of the character and the series. Inspired by Neneh Cherry and comic book character Tank Girl, Gard designed Lara Croft to counter stereotypical female characters. The company modified the character for subsequent titles, which included graphical improvements and gameplay additions. American developer Crystal Dynamics took over the series after the 2003 sequel Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness was received poorly. The new developer rebooted the character along with the video game series. The company altered her physical proportions, and gave her additional ways of interacting with game environments. Croft has been voiced by six actresses in the video game series: Shelley Blond (1996), Judith Gibbins (1997–98), Jonell Elliott (1999–2003), Keeley Hawes (2006–14), Camilla Luddington (2013–present) and Abigail Stahlschmidt (2015).

Lara

Lara may refer to:

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Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is an action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and iOS through digital distribution. It is part of the Tomb Raider series, but unlike previous games, the game does not carry the Tomb Raider brand and has a heavy emphasis on cooperative gameplay. In multiplayer, players take the role as either Lara Croft or a 2,000-year-old Mayan warrior named Totec. They must work together in order to stop the evil spirit Xolotl and retrieve the Mirror of Smoke. A single-player campaign mode is available that does not include the non-playable character AI following or helping Lara.

In the United States and United Kingdom, Guardian of Light was released for the Xbox Live Arcade on 18 August 2010; it was released a month later on 28 September for PlayStation Network and Steam. Though local cooperative was available at the initial release for all versions, online cooperative was later added. In North America, on 16 December 2010, the video game was released for iOS devices which included cooperative with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth options. The first downloadable content (DLC) map pack was released for free for a limited time.

Red Skull

The Red Skull is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as the archenemy of the superhero Captain America. Portrayed as a Nazi agent, the character was created by Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, and France Herron, and first appeared in Captain America Comics #7 (October 1941).

The character has been adapted to a variety of other media platforms, including animated television series, video games and live-action feature films. He was portrayed by actor Scott Paulin in the 1990 direct-to-video film Captain America, and by Hugo Weaving in the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger.

Red Skull was ranked number 21 on Wizard Magazine's Top 100 Greatest Villains Ever list and was also ranked as IGN's 14th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.

Publication history

While considering ideas for an appropriate archenemy for Captain America, writer and artist Joe Simon saw a hot fudge sundae melting and noticed it resembled a human figure. Inspired, Simon at first considered calling his new villain "Hot Fudge". However, as the cherry on top of the sundae seemed like an exposed skull, he finally decided on "Red Skull" as a more appropriate moniker. The original Red Skull was introduced in Timely Comics' Captain America Comics #1 (cover-dated March 1941) which was edited and drawn by the team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and written by France "Ed" Herron.

Light

Light is electromagnetic radiation within a certain portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The word usually refers to visible light, which is visible to the human eye and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), or 4.00 × 10⁻⁷ to 7.00 × 10⁻⁷ m, between the infrared (with longer wavelengths) and the ultraviolet (with shorter wavelengths). This wavelength means a frequency range of roughly 430–750 terahertz (THz).

The main source of light on Earth is the Sun. Sunlight provides the energy that green plants use to create sugars mostly in the form of starches, which release energy into the living things that digest them. This process of photosynthesis provides virtually all the energy used by living things. Historically, another important source of light for humans has been fire, from ancient campfires to modern kerosene lamps. With the development of electric lights and power systems, electric lighting has effectively replaced firelight. Some species of animals generate their own light, a process called bioluminescence. For example, fireflies use light to locate mates, and vampire squids use it to hide themselves from prey.